Deadly Embrace

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Deadly Embrace

By Jessie Scanlon

In June, scientists at Columbia University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute released computer-generated images based on X-ray data - the first visual record of HIV in action. The virus, studded with gp120 proteins that resemble the body's own, approaches a cell undetected and binds to a receptor. Almost instantly, the virus attaches to a second receptor, pulling the cell into a deadly embrace. In this image, the second attack is intercepted by the 17b antibody, present in only a very small percentage of the population. "HIV is uncanny and unprecedented in its insidiousness," says Columbia biochemist Wayne Hendrickson. "This detailed information of the structure and the process of infection is what we need to design a vaccine."